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Anomaly Research Centre:Exclusives/Robert Quinn Interview
ZEM got in contact with Robert Quinn for an interview by email, inbetween the Watch broadcast of Episode 5.2 and Episode 5.3, two of the episodes directed by Robert. Thank you very much to Robert for your patience and answers to my questions! ---- , Episode 4.6, Episode 5.2, Episode 5.3 and Episode 5.4.]] ---- 1. How did you become involved with Primeval? When Primeval came to Ireland to shoot, the Producer Tim Bradley was looking for an Irish Director to shoot the third block of episodes. I met with him and Exec Producer Tim Haines and they viewed some of my other work. Happily for me they gave me the job! 2. Were you familiar with the show prior to becoming involved? Sure. It's popular over here in Ireland. I had watched it when I could. I never expected to be working on it! 3. What was it like, being the new director in an already popular show, with established directors? Mark Everest and Cilla Ware were shooting ahead of me on the series and they both had lots of helpful advice for me in terms of their experiences on Primeval. That said, after a while I had to stand on my own two feet! Tim the Producer was a great sounding board for ideas throughout. 4. How do you work with the show’s creators and writers to bring Primeval to life? A little bit of input on a week to week basis with the hard working script department. Just thoughts on dialogue and action sequences. Things like that. The heavy lifting comes with the CGI sequences where the creatures are at play. The question is how does one make them feel real and scary? So, Jean Claude (the Visual effects Supervisor from the Mill) and I would take the script and Pre Visualize the sequences in a kind of animated storyboard. This takes a while and is painstaking. When they are ready we would show them to the producers, and see what they think. It's very organic, but has to be specific, so that when we take the ideas to the set, everybody knows what the Creature is going to do. I have to say that the animators are the unsung heroes in this process. If they fail, we all do! 5. As a Primeval director, what does your job involve? Is it a lot of camera angles and lighting, or, do you get to make some big decisions? Well, no day is the same but generally I take the actors through the scenes with the storyboards I mentioned about, trying to get them to react to something that isn't there. It takes "imagine" to a new level. The established cast are all veterans of this and they tend to be fine . Guest actors sometimes need a bit of help. Each scene needs to be discussed through with the crew and so they get on with setting up. Sometimes i'll rehearse a scene ahead in the shooting day that looks like it could present issues. Sometimes I'll pop into Emma the editor to see how yesterdays work is coming together on screen. And every day has questions about the creatures from the Effects team. It's never quiet on Primeval. 6. Did you have any particularly memorable experiences whilst directing Primeval? Taking over Luttrelstown castle for episode 6 and destroying Jenny's wedding was great fun! Anytime Lester was on set there was always a giggle, but in truth the whole experience was very memorable. 7. Did you learn anything new, as a director, while working on the show? I had done a small degree of CGI before Primeval. The amount of visual effects throughout the show is so massive I think I'm a walking talking effects users manual now. 8. Were there any unique problems you faced as a director on Primeval? Definitely. And it was usually to do with the Creatures and how they would move at any given time during a shot. 9. Do you have a favorite Primeval episode that you have directed? I do enjoy the episode on the submarine, and also an upcoming episode that I can't talk about yet! 10. Do you have any other favorite Primeval episodes, aside from the ones you have directed? I thought the Terror Bird episode in series 3 was particularly good, but there are many of them - I think I'm just partial to the Terror Bird! 11. Do you have a favorite Primeval character(s)? All of them. 12. Do you have a favorite Primeval creature(s)? Terror Bird. A very scary creature. I wouldn't want to meet one on a dark night! ---- :Note: All opinions expressed in interviews belong solely to the crew or cast member interviewed, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ZEM, Primeval Wiki or Impossible Pictures. Category:Primeval Wiki Exclusives